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Tad Silby the Thief
Tad Silby is the only son of Sig and Bibby Silby and sole heir to the Silby estate and fortune. Tad’s grandfather Benji parlayed a thirst for adventure and enterprise into a series of speculative trade contracts with various foreign communities many years ago. He established a lucrative and well respected import/export company and introduced unusual handiworks, spices, fruits, and clothing to those in Blighthouse and Gormenghast who had the coin and inclination to purchase such things. Benji’s success enabled him to settle on significant lands southwest of Gormenghast where he would build his estate. It was on the Silby Estate that Tad was born and raised, just like his father and uncle Kif before him. Tad’s upbringing was privileged and stimulating. He was schooled on the premises but not confined, as both parents attached a high priority to trying new things and experiencing the world. Tad learned to ride a horse at a very young age and would often go “ranging” with his uncle Kif on and around the Silby lands. As he grew older he would accompany Kif on business, to meet with foreign suppliers and accompany the occasional shipment to some destination within the realm. Complications during Tad’s birth resulted in Bibby’s inability to bear another child; without siblings, Tad had limited interaction with other children on the estate, but he always had a friend in Kif. Their travels fortified the bond they had already forged, and instilled in Tad an insatiable wanderlust. During his time traveling the realm with Uncle Kif, Tad’s talents for thievery became apparent. The best thing, he learned, about visiting and interacting with strange and unusual dignitaries, was *interacting* with their strange and unusual daughters. Tad’s ever-growing romantic appetite mandated that he begin making use of his diminutive stature and quick reflexes. Hut, hovel, palace, pantry, hedge maze…it made no difference to Tad; he learned to move quietly, think quickly, and squeeze through the tightest of places to earn his prize, usually a kiss and some over-the-clothes stuff with some local leader’s precocious darling. Young, rich, and sexually adequate, Tad Silby was living the dream. All that changed recently when Tad experienced loss for the first time in his life. The body of his uncle, mentor, and only true friend, Kif Silby, was found slumped in an alley, belly slit open, his hands filled with entrails as though he tried to put them back in. There were no suspects, no leads, and no reason to think this anything more than a terrible incident of random violence. Kif’s death shook Tad to the core. The notion of continuing his travels alone was a foreign one, but Tad knew he would find no solace at the Silby estate; perhaps he would return someday and settle down, but at this stage in his young life the estate felt more like a relic of his past than it did a home. Listless and demoralized, Tad mounted his horse and rode for Pyre. It was no secret that Pyre was a good place to drink, a place where he would undoubtedly find some distraction in the lives of strangers, adventurers…maybe even make a new friend.